Issue(s): Dracula Lives #2 (Marie Laveau story only)
Cover Date: Aug 73
Title: "The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Dick Giordano - Inker

Review/plot:
After killing a tourist in a New Orleans graveyard for the crime of gettin' it on...

...Dracula feels compelled to go to a house occupied by a pair of voodooists.

The woman is Marie Laveau, a woman that has discovered the secret of immortality.

However, she needs the blood of a vampire in order to restore her youth. Luckily her partner Gaston saw Dracula recently. Both were investigating the man claiming to be the immortal wizard Cagliostro, but he turned out to be a fraud (this happened last issue). But Dracula's blood is what was really needed anyway. They take the blood from Dracula and prepare a potion that both Marie and Gaston drink, with the idea that Gaston will share in her immortal power. But it turns out Gaston is a patsy.

Having regained her youth, Marie starts hitting on Dracula.

He's flattered, but not interested.

Marie Laveau is a real historical (or maybe legendary) figure, but she will play a role as a minor character in the Marvel universe.

As Dracula is traveling to Marie Laveau's house, he walks through a Mardi Gras celebration and nearly bumps into Simon Garth, Zombie.

This is a promotion of Garth's new series, Tales of the Zombie #1.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Marie Laveau

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place concurrently with Tales of Zombie #1, or more specifically the scene it reprints from Menace #5 where the Zombie is walking through the Mardi Gras parade.

References:

• We can read Simon Garth's sinister story in Tales of the Zombie #1.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Tales of the Zombie vol. 1

Why did they make Marvel's Marie Laveau a white woman? I mean I know they kept nothing but the name because it is associated with vodoo and apart from the name it is a completly made up person but it is a little sad that she has to look exactly like most other horror comic ladies. Young Marie Laveau looks way to similar to the woman in the beginning to me.

Nobody knows why Marvel made Laveau white, but Chris Claremont embarrassingly repeated the error later in MTU. To make matters worse, when DC gave readers a Marie Laveau story in "Ghosts", they got her race correct--and that was while editor Murray Boltinoff was starting to have memory problems, making Marvel's error look even worse.